When Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah — donning his trademark white kurta and panche (dhoti) — went to a club to have a meal with four of his friends, he was not allowed inside the premises. That’s when he made up his mind that politicians, especially those from the South, should have a club of their own where one can walk in wearing a dhoti and not be stopped.
“Mahatma Gandhi was allowed in dhoti to take part in the Round Table Conference. He was allowed on such a big platform, but I was not allowed inside a club. So I decided we should have a club. You can come in a dhoti, I have inaugurated this in a dhoti,” said the chief minister with a smirk on his face.
Remember another similar episode when a sitting judge of the Madras High Court, Justice D Hariparanthaman, was denied access at the Tamil Nadu Cricket Club because he was wearing a dhoti? The judge not only challenged it in court, but then chief minister J Jayalalithaa read the riot act to private clubs over their dress code restrictions and termed it “sartorial despotism”.
In this case, Justice Hariparanthaman was to participate in a release function for the book ‘Legal Fraternity Embraced Me’ penned by TS Arunachalam, former Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court. As soon as he alighted from his car, he was informed by the club clerk and security guard that he would not be allowed as he was wearing a dhoti.
I recall Justice Hariparanthaman telling me that they claimed that they had clear instructions from the TNCA club office-bearers not to permit anyone inside wearing anything other than the prescribed dress code.
“Despite trying to reason with them that the dress code was for club members and not guests of an event, they did not budge,” he had told me when the issue came to light in 2014. He also recalled how former Supreme Court judge VR Krishna Iyer faced a similar situation when he was denied entry to the Gymkhana Club in the early 1980s as he had not followed the dress code. Justice Iyer then wrote a note of protest in the guest book.
There was also a more recent incident when a social media influencer claimed that he was not allowed to enter Virat Kohli’s restaurant One8 Commune in Juhu, Mumbai, because he was in a ‘veshti’. The viral video sparked a heated debate on the topic online, with the Tamil Nadu-based social media user putting out a picture with the attire just outside the door of the restaurant.
It is also interesting to see many politicians with southern roots, like present or former Union ministers Rajeev Chandrashekhar, V Muraleetharan, P Chidambaram or senior politicians like K Annamalai sporting the mundu/veshti at formal events across the country.
Coming back to Balabrooie guest house, which has now become an exclusive club for Karnataka’s legislators and has a rich legacy and history associated with it. Converting it into a club has been a two-decade-old dream and demand of the legislators. The 14-acre heritage structure in the heart of Bengaluru city will solely be for the benefit of MLAs, MLCs, MPs, former MLAs, MLCs, and MPs from Karnataka for an annual membership fee.
Planned to be operated on the lines of the Constitution Club in Delhi, the place did run into hurdles as petitions were filed with the Karnataka High Court that upgrading the heritage structure would entail altering it or cutting down trees. The idea was first mooted in 2008 during the BJP-led government, but subsequent governments that tried to convert the building faced stiff opposition from heritage and environment activists. They even knocked at the doors of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), but the case did not hold.
Finally, the state government gave an undertaking to the HC that neither the 159 trees inside the premises would be touched nor alterations to the main structure would be made. The club saw its inauguration on February 12.
Giving you a peek into the history of the guest house — it originally served as the bungalow for Mark Cubbon, an Irish native who assumed the role of chief commissioner of Mysore in 1834. Cubbon was forced to return to Ireland due to poor health, and the bungalow was renamed Balabrooie by John Garret, his successor. In 1881, John Garret sold the property to Wadiyar, the ruler of Mysore, transforming it into the official residence of the Mysuru dewan. Over the years, it has housed various dewans of the former Mysore kingdom and served as the residence for several chief ministers of Karnataka. Notably, it has hosted distinguished personalities such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore, and BR Ambedkar.
Now called the Karnataka Legislature Institute, this is a place where elected representatives can relax and rejuvenate and walk in wearing traditional Indian clothes, including dhoti — the pride of southern India.
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